... for an arc
flash study that Mr. Reyes was qualified to do in house and at
no cost to taxpayers.

$200,000

... the estimated
engineering cost of the express feeder which could also be done
in house at no cost to taxpayers.

$591,898

... wasted when
insurance requirements were circumvented by the city manager and
utility director.

$123,098

... wasted when
plant manager Dave Mulvay’s first attempt at writing a scope
of work contained a defect that cost taxpayers an extra $123,098
for tainting the bidding process and giving unfair advantage to
one bidder over another. - April 2009

$64,000

... wasted when
the Matrix organizational study to save taxpayers money was scrapped
in favor of higher cost outsourcing by city manager Stanton.

$450,000

... wasted engineering
design cost of water piping and tanks (original county water deal)
that will never be built.

$59,975

... wasted when
additional costs were incurred for not following insurance procedure
on transformer repair.

$82,620

... wasted when
the commission unanimously voted to order transformers when we
had equivalent replacements already in stock since the upgrade.
- 15 Sep. 2009

AUTO RENEWAL SCAMS... reading the fine print

Scam

PCTOOLS and other software and service companies have gone
to great lengths to make it as difficult as possible for customers to stop the
automatic renewing of their products and services. The fine print is in the
“terms of purchase” where PCTOOLS claims that by buying their product you agree
to have your product, service, or subscription automatically renewed. And of course,
you never agreed to that since the salesman never told you anything about it
and you didn't see it on any of the PCTOOL advertisements. So it's a big surprise
when you get the email notice of automatic renewal and you discover they've
rigged everything so you can't just cancel this renewal... you're going to have
to WORK HARD AT IT. They've already got your credit card number and they know
that a certain percentage of novices will probably give up and let the renewal
go through.

Looking on the email, you see no customer service phone
number so you can pick up the phone and call… there's no convenient “cancel
automatic renewal” button or link somewhere... they made sure of that... so what
do you do?

You can follow the directions in the email notice for “opting
out of auto renewal,” which say “go to my account” but the last thing you needed
when you bought the software was to set up another unnecessary account and password
to remember. After finding yourself in an infinite loop of being bounced back
and forth between two screens it becomes apparent this doesn't work either.

It’s likely this interruption in your day will cost at least
a half hour of your time as you go through the rat maze of figuring it all out and finally getting someone on the phone who speaks and understands English
to stop the runaway train.

The first number google listed as PCTOOLS support
ended up with someone from "Iyogi" (tech support outsource for PCTOOLS) with a
heavy accent who wanted to backdoor into my computer. That was a totally ridiculous request... but they do that so they can terrorize you into thinking that if you don't renew, you may end up with a dead computer and none of your files.

When I refused to allow
it, he didn't understand and finally got his supervisor on the phone who couldn't
even find the correct number of PCTOOLS for me to call.

This is what’s happened to many American businesses where
most everything is outsourced and greed reigns supreme. I do not recommend
this product as there are many comparable products that cost less, one for free
(CACHE CLEANER) ...some even packaged within security software that offer the
same features and performance. And most important... they won't be
automatically stabbing your credit card with renewal fees you didn't agree to
pay.

The Pathology of Corruption

What could be more odious to the public than being forced to cover the cost
of bailing out Wall Street Bankers who bankrupted the whole country? Or what
about the greatest environmental disaster in the world with government regulators
in bed with the oil companies?

We’ve come to accept that thievery and corruption have no limits as to
the scale and depravity on which corruption can operate right under our noses.
And you have to ask, why did it take ten years for anything to happen after
someone first blew the whistle? Where was the media? Where were the watch dog
agencies that were supposed to protect the public? Where was the prosecution
of legal remedy? So you might think this is only endemic to the Federal government?
Think again.

What about a local governing board that establishes ground rules to protect
the public from a known threat and its own agency of government that was supposed
to secure these critical protections for the public …countermands the
governing board and promotes the financial interests of a corporation against
the people ...and ten years of public suffering result? That’s not too
small is it? Especially when you multiply ten years times a thousand households
affected.

And let’s not forget the big ticket item that bears the heaviest cost
to the public… the apathy generated by these events that depletes public
faith in our system of government as communities are forced to accept the abuse
they were supposed to be protected from.

And so, here’s what we have:

When it's time to relax

About fifty people from family and extended family gathered from everywhere
in the country, from California, North Carolina, Connecticut and elsewhere... to celebrate Vivian's
graduation from Medical school... and of course to celebrate family, Mother's
Day and friendship. Siesta Key near Sarasota/Tampa was the target and what a
marvelous place it turned out to be. Her brother next to her got his Doctorate
in Neuro Psychology last year and is working at Yale University for his fellowship.

Officials blame FAA and helicopter schools

January 17th Casandra Davis (standing) noise abatement officer, and Jerry Allen
Deputy Director of the department face strong criticism from residents of five surrounding communities of the airport fed up
with helicopter schools routinely violating County 'good neighbor' standards
and insisting on training over people's homes and families.
The meeting quickly heated up when the question came up as to why the DOA (Department
of Airports) after ten years... hasn't managed to gain an ounce of compliance from
helicopter schools to the County's 'good neighbor' guidelines.

What happened to the ARC FLASH study?

In April of 2009, an ARC
FLASH STUDY was commissioned by the utility director who is now being given
$72,000 for her last three months on the job.

An ARC FLASH study is required by federal regulators for safety reasons and
LWU was due to complete this study by January 2009 but granted an extension
to comply. An ARC FLASH study specs out the clothing, tools and headgear to
be worn at specific locations where high voltage danger could cause harm to
electric utility employees. Such harm did occur when an employee got severely
burned while working near a high voltage area in 2009.

I was delighted to see that the Commission decided to save the City Museum,
and with it dear Beverly Mustaine's job. What does it say about us, though,
that we were prepared to shut down the museum and yet we continue to fund a
center for illegal aliens? Jo Ann Golden and I sharply disagree on this issue.
I say get the illegals out of town. She says coddle them or else they will commit
crimes. If that is not negotiating with terrorists than I don't know what is.
There are so many parts of Lake Worth that I simply can no longer visit because
it breaks my heart to see how third world they have become, compared to their
beauty when I was growing up here. What do you think?

HOW TO PICK THE RIGHT HELICOPTER SCHOOL
Palm Beach County Helicopter Training

Before you spend a hundred thousand of your or your government’s money,
make sure you get the most for your money with the least hassle and cost. The
County has four airports, three of which cater to General Aviation interests
and have helicopter training schools based on them… 1. Lantana Airport
known as Palm Beach County Park Airport, 2. North County Airport, and 3. Pahokee
Glades Airport.

document shows helicopters ...to stay above airport

How could it be that for five years, the public living around Lantana Airport
didn't know about this document which makes it abundantly clear that helicopters
that fly over their communities repeatedly... are not even supposed to be there
(Sheriff excepted) according to this Palm Beach County Commission document unearthed
earlier this year by LWM.

According to the PBCo Department of Airports, 'there was no need to distribute
or publish it on their NOISE ABATEMENT WEBSITE for public viewing since it was
only important for pilots to see it.' And of course these are the same pilots
that have thumbed their noses at these Procedures for five years and counting.

Recently, a request to post these Procedures on the County's NOISE ABATEMENT
SITE was made so the public could see for the first time where the helicopters
were supposed to be flying. A DOA (Department of Airports) noise abatement rep
declined the request saying "...submit that request in writing and we'll
consider it."